Engine starter



W. L. MQGRATH. ENGINE STARTER.

`APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. 1919.

yPatented Au I Patented Aug. 8, 1922 I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I I I I Il I I I QQ] 'DIU IDD 4 T untreu stares PATENT QFFECE.

WILLIAM i.. Moena'rn, or amerita. New Yoan, assrenon To nemrsn MACHINE ooMPANY, or Ermita, new Yoan, a Guarenarrcn or new Yoan.l

ENGINE STARTER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

To all whom it mag/concern.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. MCGRATH, a citizen of the United. States, residing at Elmira., in the county of Chemung and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in vEngine Starters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to engine starters and concerns more particularly a drive or transmission of the automatic type. Spealc ing in generalv terms my invention in its broader aspect consists in providing a drive adapted to be operated by a prime mover and hand operatedmeans either separately or in conjunction. adapted to start all kinds of internal com bustion engines it has been designed and developed in connection with a view to installation upon tractors including military machines known as tanks wherein it becomes desirable to provide hand operated4 means in addition to power means for op-` erating the drive, owing to the fact that the storage batteries for operating the motor may beV damaged or put out of commission or become so weakened that it is necessary to supplement the power of the motor by hand operated means in order to turn over the engine. Moreover in constructions of this kind the handoperated means must be located conveniently to the operator while on the machine thereby avoiding the necessity of dismounting therefrom for that purpose. The construction and arrangement of my drive is such that when the prime mover such as an electric motor is operated in order to start the engine, the hand operated means is entirely idle, the same being automatically brought into operative relationship with the drive only when such means is operated and being automatically disengaged therefrom when the engine starts'on its own power.

My invention, in the present instance, is shown embodied in a drive of the type known as the Eclipse-Bendix drive charac terized by a rotatable shaft such as a screw shaft and a driving member such as a pinion adapted, when the shaft is rotated, to be moved longitudinally of suchshaft into en-I gagement with a part of the engine to be started, such as the y wheel and to there upon rotate in unison with the shaft to rotate the ily wheel. however, my invention,

While my invention is broadly considered, may be embodied in drivesof different construction.

My lnventionrelatesto other features including a means for preventing rotary movement of the pinion at a time when it should be advancing longitudinally of the shaft and also to'shghtly oscillate such pinion. in the event that the pinion teeth and the fly wheel teeth do notproperly register in such longitudinal movement, such features being desirable whenever the hand operated means 1s utilized. Another feature of my invention consists in producing a simple and compact construction providing for said dual operatlng means.

In the drawing Fig. l is a section of a drive'embodying my invention, Fig. 2 a detall vlew of a portion of the automatic shifting clutch of the hand operated means; Flgs. 3 and, 4f perspectives of the coupling between the motor and the shaft; Fig. 5 a section of a modified form of-construction; Fig. 6 a modified form of clutch in the hand operated mechanism; and Fig. 7 a section on the line 7--7 of Fig. 6'.

Referring-to. the embodiment of my invention as shown in the drawing the prime mover is here an electric motor 1 suitably supported and provided with an armature shaft 2 on whose outer end there is secured one member 3 of an Oldham type of coupling, the other or complementary member being shown at 4 and a tached to the rotatable shaft 5.

The shaft 5 is suitably journaled and according to the present construction a main bracket 6 has an opening in whichis mounted a casing like supporting bracket 7 Vithin this latter bracket there is inserted a bearing 8 forming the inner bearing of the shaft 5 and such bearing is provided with a flange or plate 9 adapted to be held or clamped between the motor structure and a corresponding flange plate l0 of the bracket 7. This bearing 8 has a shell portion 8a which encloses the coupling members 3 and 4. The supporting bracket 7 is provided at its outer end with a bearing ll for the outer end of the shaft 5.

Upon the shaft 5 and operatively connected therewith is an Eclipseddendix drive of the hollow screw shaft type the same comprising a screw threaded shaft 12 in the form of a sleeve mounted upon the shaft 5 and capable of a slight yielding endwise movement thereon and also adapted to rotate therewith. This drive also comprises a pinion 13 screw threaded upon the shaft and adapted to engage either directly or indirectly with a part or member of the engine to be started such as with the teeth 14:a of the fly wheel 14 of the engine. This drive also comprises a driving spring in the form of a coil spring 15 anchored at its inner end to a driving head 16 secured to the shaft 5 and at its outer end to the driven head 12a of the screw shaft.

The hand operated means is operatively connected with the end of the rotatable shaft 5 opposite to the end to which the motor is attached. This hand operated means consists of a gear mounted on the shaft 5 and adapted when operated to be automatically advanced longitudinally thereof into clutching engagement with such shaft and to be automatically unclutched therefrom when such shaft becomes operated by the engine. vIn the present instance this gear is in the. form of a sprocket wheel 17 adapted to be rotated through the medium of a sprocket chain 18 by another sprocket wheel 19 which is operatively connected with a hand crank 20 or the like which is within convenient reach of the operator. 17, which is the driven wheel of these two wheels, has an extended hub terminating in two similar clutch jaws 21 adapted to coopcrate withthe cross pin 22 when in driving relationship with the shaft 5. In this hub there is mounted a spring pressed plunger or pin 23 which is projected inwardly into the bore of the sprocket wheel in position to cooperate with the two parallel circumferential grooves 24 and 25 and with the in-y clined cross grooves 26 which connect the two circumferential grooves, with the result that the sprocket wheel 17, by its own rotation, is automatically moved lto clutching engagement with the shaft 5 and is automatically disengaged therefrom by the rotation of such shaft.

- First describing the operation of the drive as driven by the prime mover, that is, the electric motor 1 and assuming that the sprocket wheel 17 is not in its engaged position but in its disengaged position toward the left, the torque of the motor is transmitted to the driving shaft 5 and thence through the driving spring 15 to the screw shaft 12. The rotation of this screw shaft results in the automatic advancement of the pinion 13 into mesh with the fly wheel and when the movement of such pinion has been arrested by its contact with the stop nut 27 on the shaft 5 it will partake of the rotary movement of its screw shaft and will consequently rotate the ily wheel. When the engine has started on its own power the pinion will be automatically demeshed in the well known manner and be restored to the normal position shown in the drawings The sprocket wheel During this operation of the .drive by power the hand operated means has been entirely idle as the rotation of the shaft 5 has not been communicated to the sprocket wheel 17 inasmuch as the pin 23 remains inactive in the circumferential groove 24:.`r

4Next describing the operation of the hand operated means and starting with the sprocket wheel 17in its above assumed inactive position to the left of that shown in Fig. 1, the rotation of the sprocket wheel 17 which is initiated by the operator through the hand crank 20 automatically results in a longitudinal movement of such wheel to the right along the screw shaft 5 inasmuch asy the plunger 23 will follow along one of the cross rooves 26 and will thereupon cross' over from the groove 24 to the similar groove 25 and thereby positively `move the sprocket wheel to the right and' cause engagement of its clutch jaws 21 with the by power the rotation ofthe shaft 5 will result in a disengagement of the clutches 21 from the pin 22 and a resto-ration of the entire sprocket wheel 17 to norma-l or inactive position. This action is due t0 the fac-t that the outer edges of the clutch -aws are inclined so that the pin 22 will ri e thereupon and force the sprocket wheel to the left.

The above operations are described as independent or separable ones, that is to say, the. power means and the hand operated means separately or independently operate the drive. However, these two means are capable of operation in conjunction fqiljf'thepurpose of actuating the drive therebyff-ftaking care of a condition of low battery .already 4in that position) and to assist the motor in rotating the shaft 5. Thus this shaft is rotated both by 'the power of the motor and by the hand power supplied by .the operator, and whatever power 1s capable of being supplied by the motor is utilized to relieve the operator in cranking the enV glne.

In the actuation of the drive by the motor power the screw shaft is rotated ratherfast and the longitudinal movement of the pingives' a much slower rotation to the screw shaft with the result that said longitudinal movement ofthe pinion does not so readily result and in order to insure such movement and also to cause proper register of thepin` ion teeth and the fly wheel teeth when the drive is hand operated, I provide suitable means forl such purposes. As .shown this means consists of a. plunger 28 passing through a guide` lug 29 screw threaded into the bracket 7 an plvota-lly connected at its outer end to a lever 30.' This lever in turn is pivoted at 31 to a fulcrum piece 32 secured to the main supporting bracket 6. This plunger is retracted by means of the coil spring 33 interposed between lever 30 and the plug. Thelower or inner end of the plunger is rounded and is normally positioned just above the forward end of the pinion 13. When the plunger is projectedl inwardly by a downward movement by the opera-tor of the lever 30 it will take its position between two adjacent Vteeth of such. `pinion and thereby prevent rotation thereof at the time when it should be advancing longitudinally. This action of the plunger would be necessary onlyin the event that the operator should find that the pinion was not properly functioning, that is, was not advancing longitudinally or in the event that its teeth Wereabutting the iy wheel.

`teeth end to end whereupon the operator would operate the plunger and cause af slight oscillation one way or the other of the pinion due to the rounded end of the plunger bearing against the side of one 'of the pinion teeth. Continued rotation of the screw shaft by the operator would cause proper meshing after the pinion has thus been brought into. proper register with the dy wheel teeth. y

In Fig.' 5 I have shown a modied form of construction, particularly characterized by having the hand-perated means connected directly with thev screw shaft instead of indirectly thereto through the shaft 5 and the spring driving connection 15. v In this modication the parts corresponding to those in Fig. 1 are similarly lettered. The screw shaft 12 which is mounted upon the shaft 5 is provided with a sleeve extension 12 passing through and journaled in the outer bearing v11. 4The sprocket wheel 17 and its associated parts are mounted on this sleeve 12a in the same manner and with'the same result as when mounted upon the shaft 5 in Fig. 1, it beingyund'erstood that the` clutch projection or pin 22 is here a part of or secured to this screw shaft extension 12% Describing the operation of this modified form of construction the drive wheel 17 has already been automatically put into opera- 'The actuation of this screw sha-ft is thus direct and not through theshaft 5, and the spring 15, although such two latter I parts will be instantly rotated.

As shown the bracket and the inner bearing are clamped to a part 34 of the engineby means of the bolt 35`passing through a lug 1a of the motor 1, and also through the shell portion 36 of the inner bearing 8 and through the flange 37 ofthe bracket 7. The motor has a pilot 1b which fits into a corresponding opening in the shell 36.

In said Figure 5 I have shown another form of construction of the pinion retarding means which is adapted to be adjusted so as to be entirely reeof the driving member or pinion when the drive is motor-operated and to be adjusted to engaging position withvrespect to the pinion when the drive is to be operated by hand. According to this construction `the plunger 28a is reciprocable 'within'.a plug or a cylinder 29a Jfrom. whose lower end it is yieldingly held projected by means of a coiled spring 33, This plug is screw-threaded at its lower end into the bracket 7 and by yrotating the same this plug may be adjusted up or down `as desired.

Within the range of movement of the pinion,

and therefore into cooperationv therewith in the same manner and with the same result manually'or pedally brought into cooperation with such pinion as hereinbefore described. In order to limit the upward degree of adjustment of this plug I provide a iiange as when' the plunger in the other form is plate 38 secured tothe bracket 7 and having' a flanged portion engaging a circumferential l flange 29by on said plug.

In Fig. 6 is shown a modified construction of sprocket wheel 39 which has the ordinary one-way clutch connection with the shaft 5,

and which could be used in place of the automatically clutching and declutching sprocket wheel 17 and some measure of my invention vbe thereby obtained, although the latter is preferred. Such a one-way clutch is shown in Fig. 7 in which the hub 40gof the sprocket wheel has inclined internal recesses 41 receiving the balls ll2-cooperating clutchwise with the shaft 5.

While, for the purpose of illustration, several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, in detail, it is' lto 4be understood Vthat the inventive idea. is not limited thereto but that the same may be emits iatv

bodied in various mechanical expressions within the limits of the appended claims, it being pointed out that the invention may be used with many of the well-known forms of Bendix and other drives, for example that shown and described in my application Sr. No. 283,780,-filed March 20, 1919.

I claim:

1. An engine starter device including a driving member normally disengaged from a part of the engine to be started and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, and power driving means and hand-operated driving means adapted to cooperate separately therewith, said hand-operated means being adapted when operated.

to' be automatically connected with such member. l

2. Anengine starter device including a driving member normally disengaged from a partof the engine to be started and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, power driving means and hand-operated means adapted to cooperate therewith separately and also in conjunction and arranged constantly in position to so cooperate, and means for automatically disv abling the hand-operated means in case the power driving means operates the faster, such hand-operated means being arranged when actuated to drivingly cooperate with the driving member.

'3. Anengine starterv device including a driving member normallyl disengaged from a part of the engine vto be-started and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, a motor operatively connectedl with one end of the drive for operating it, hand-operated means connected with the other end thereof for also operating it, either separately of the motor or in conjunction therewith, and means whereby the handoperated means when actuated are automatically brought into driving cooperation with the driving member, and whereby such driving cooperation is automatically broken when the motor drives the driving member the faster. Y

4. An engine starter mechanism including a driving memlber normally disengaged from a part of the engine to be started and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, a motor operatively connected with the mechanism for operating it` a hand-operated gear having clutch engagement with such mechanism also for driving it, and means for automatically declutching such gear.

5. An engine starter mechanism including a driving member normally .disengaged from 'a part of the engine to be started and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, a prime mover which is continually in driving relation with the mechanism, and hand operating means normally'disengaged from the mechanism but when operated adapted to be automatically brought into engagement therewith.

6.' An engine starte-r mechanism including a driving member normally 4disengaged from a part of the' engine to be started, and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, a prime mover which is detachably connected with `:the mechanism but which is continually in driving relation therewith, and hand-operated means cooperating with the mechanism to operate it and adapted when rotated to be automati` cally clutchedtherewith.

7. An engine starter mechanism including a driving member normally disengaged from a part of the engine to be started, and arranged when operated to be automatically engaged therewith, a' prime mover operatively connected with the mechanism, and hand operated means including a gear adapted when rotated, to be automatically clutched to the mechanism, and hand operated means including a gear adapted when rotated, to be automatically clutched to the mechanism and to thereupon operate it.

8. An engine starter 'mechanism including a rotatable shaft, a driving mem-ber mounted thereon for longitudinal movement thereon and rotary movement therewith and adapted to engage a part of the engine to be started, a prime mover operatively connected with the mechanism, and hand operated means mounted on said shaft and adapted to be automatically moved longitudinally thereof into operative engagement with it and to thereupon drive such mechanism.

9. An engine starter drive including a rotatable shaft, a driving member mounted thereon 'for longitudinal movement thereon and rotary movement therewith and adapted to engage a part ot the engine to be started, power means adapted to rotate said shaft, and hand-operated means also adapted to rotate the shaft, such latter means including a rotatable member mounted on the shaft and, when rotated, automatically movable longitudinally thereon into clutching engagement with the shaft.

10.A An engine starter drive including a rotatable shaft, a driving member mounted thereon for longitudinal movement thereon and rotary movement therewith and adapted to engage a part of the engine to be started, power means adapted to rotate said shaft, and hand-operated means also adapted to rotate the shaft, such lattermeans including a rotatable member mounted on the ygrooves and connecting cross 'grooves with which said pin cooperates whereby, when such member is rotated, it is automatically moved longitudinally of the shaft and into clutching engagement therewith.

11; An engine starter drive including a rotatable shaft, a driving member mounted thereon for longitudinal movement thereon and rotary movement therewith and adapted to engage a part of the engine to be started, power means-adapted to rotate the shaft, and hand-operated means also adapted to rotate the shaft, such latter means including a wheel mounted on the shaft to move longitudinally thereof and rotarily therewith, and having an extended hub terminating in clutch jaws, and a clutch member on the shaft adapted to be engaged by such Jaws.

12. An engine starter drive including a rotatable shaft, a driving member mounted thereon for longitudinal movement thereon and rotary movement therewith and adapted to engage a part of the engine to be started, power means adapted to rotate the shaft, and hand-operated means also adapted to -rotate the shaft, such latter means including a Wheel mounted on the shaft to move longitudinally thereof and rotarily therewith, and having an extended hub terminating in Iclutch jaws, a clutch member on the shaft adapted to be engaged by such jaws, said shaft having two parallel circumferential grooves and connecting cross,g1;rooves, and a yieldingly pressed pin mounted in the hub with its inner end cooperating with said grooves for said automatic action of the 13. An engine starter drive including a rotatable shaft and a drive or transmission proper mounted thereon, and supporting means for such shaft, including a substantially cylindrical bracket having at one end a bearing for the outer end of the shaft, and v a removable bearing for the other end of the shaft, such latter bearing being inserted in the other end of said bracket, said removable bearing having a shell portion and said shaft having a coupling enclosed by 'said shell portion.

14. An engine starter drive including a rotatable shaft and a drive or transmission proper mounted thereon, and supporting means for such shaft, including a main suping for the other end of the shaft and also having a flange 9 parallel with flange 10, in combination with a starting motor abutting against flange 9.

WILLIAM L. MCGRATH. 

